Bhardwaj of Arun Dev Builders planning to set up food processing plant

Saturday, 02 December, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Our Bureau, New Delhi

Manoj Bhardwaj, managing director, Arun Dev Builders, is planning to set up a food processing plant in rural areas of central India with an aim to boost agricultural exports and investment for the betterment of Indian farmers and agriculture.

According to his assertions and ideas with real estate, the company’s focus has again moved to the lower-income groups. This time, it is the farmers who would be the beneficiaries of its initiatives.

“Farmers are often denied their rights to earn. The ones who spend their sweat and time earn in bits as compared to how it is sold in the market. Therefore, my aim is to help them, not only in terms of farming techniques, but also in terms of industrial skills,” stated Bhardwaj.

“I am simply doing what I have been doing. For me this is nothing new. I am building with a difference,” he added, when quizzed about his decision to foray into the new sector.

Bhardwaj’s endeavour consists of exporting processed foods like Indian spices and dry fruits, which have a high demand overseas.

The projects include establishing a community by bringing farmers and scientists. This will provide a scope of co-learning, whilst farmers will benefit from scientific aids in terms of harvesting as well as other agricultural practices.

Educating farmers about the new techniques of cultivation and increasing the fertility of land and crop productivity will increase and the farmers will directly benefit from employment in the off-season.

It is likely that the scientific techniques of using fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides can drastically improve the agricultural output of poor farmers in central India.

With a state-of-the-art food processing plant, under the Make in India initiative, the agro-produce will be processed and directly sent for export.

Bhardwaj is hopeful that the rise in exports and investments through the food processing unit will pave the way for the development in the cottage and small-scale industries, and create a whole new real estate market in rural areas. This can raise the incomes of farmers and employ them during the off-season.

Arun Dev Builders’ chief will soon initiate the development of clusters across the targeted regions and help farmers be independent of growing crops.

“Further, later initiatives will include overall development in the regions in the form of infrastructure, which will be supported by the expansion of the food processing, packaging, and logistics sectors would come up at these regions,” sources said.

The company has plans to set up more such agro-industrial clusters in other parts of the country in years to come.